Inspiring Message for YK, by The Lubavitcher Rebbe

amother

Ruby

Fri, Sep 29 2017, 12:22 pm

In Hebrew, forgiveness is mehila, a word whose root is that of mechol, which means "a circle". Life is designed to be a circle of all our experiences and relationships in a harmonious whole. When someone hurts us, the circle is broken. Forgiveness is the means by which we repair this fracture.

It is not only a question of forgiving the person who has harmed us, but also of forgiving ourselves, of forgiving Gd, of forgiving also life itself with all its strange - and often cruel - hazards.

To forgive is to let go and build the confidence necessary for a healthy and positive development. It is to declare that you will no longer remain a prisoner of the past, as a victim of circumstances; that you will no longer perpetuate negative patterns of life through reproach and anger; that you will instead gain access to the strength and love that Gd lavishes on you every day and every moment in order to realize the one purpose for which you, and only you, have been created.

Forgiving demands effort. But in the first place, it demands a connection with Gd, the One who dispenses life. When you remember that your birth is the way Gd declares that you are important, that your existence is vital, irreplaceable and essential to the perfection of His creation, then you can lift yourself beyond the sufferings that others you have inflicted and find the love and strength to forgive both themselves and yourselves.

When you forgive, the circle is again whole.
When you forgive, you have taken control of your life, you have ceased to be a victim.

Rebbe of Lubavitch